Last Updated on Oct 7, 2021 by James W

Everyone wants to get ahead at work, but not everyone knows how. It takes a certain level of drive and ambition mixed in with the personal qualities that will help you build relationships. You can have all the book smarts in the world, but if you don’t possess any social skills, your advancement opportunities may be limited. While there are no shortcuts for success in business or anywhere else, learning about some common traits shared by most successful people can provide insight into what sets them apart from others who struggle along the way. 

The personality traits here are not the ones that are used by psychiatrists to diagnose your type of personality, but rather they are the qualities that will help you grow in your field. It’s important to have a magnetic personality because it helps people work with you and can even bring more customers into your business. If you’re having trouble figuring out how to develop these skills, this blog post is for you.

Here is a list of 20 magnetic personality traits every business person should have:

1) Confidence

Employees who lack confidence tend to spend more time checking their own work instead of proving it exists. But in order to lead, you must be willing to take the reins and inspire others with your confidence. When it comes down to who people will follow, someone filled with self-doubt or a confident leader? When talking on the phone or in front of large groups of people, confidence makes all the difference. People who exude confidence appear friendly and open-minded.

2) Charm

We’ve all heard that “you can’t buy friends.” This is true, but what you can do is recognize opportunities to connect with others on a personal level. When you can talk about more than just work at the water cooler or during lunch breaks, people are drawn to working beside you because they enjoy being around you. The ability charm doesn’t necessarily mean selling out everything important about yourself, rather constructing life situations where you come across as approachable.

3) Successful people are proactive

Proactivity is spotting problems before they become problems, but many people tend to be reactive or only take action after something has occurred that requires their immediate attention. This often results in having less control over situations because you are always playing catch up instead of staying one step ahead. When it comes down to who people will follow – someone who succeeds by recognizing patterns and avoiding potential hazards or an individual who fails to see the signs?

4) Flexibility

Being flexible may sound like a simple task, but very few individuals are actually adaptable enough to move between different types of tasks seamlessly. While there’s always going to be room for change when it comes to business, the ability to stay flexible is a rare quality that makes you more versatile and able to respond quickly to new developments or opportunities. The ability to change course quickly when needed may be one of the most important abilities of all since businesses are always evolving – even in times of crisis.

5) Information gatherer

Information gathering is an often overlooked skill set because some people get discouraged when they fail to get straight A’s on their report cards. But good information requires patience, so the person who manages the process best will come out on top with accurate results. There are many ways individuals can gather information for their benefit, but it takes time and practice without getting too personal or invasive about other people. The ability to gather pertinent information, especially when making decisions about other people, is a unique skill that not everyone possesses.

6) No ego

While you can’t be perfect, and there will always be times where you make mistakes or bad calls, having an ego can make admitting those faults incredibly difficult, if not impossible. An inflated sense of self-worth and putting others down because of your insecurities not only makes you more unlikeable but also less persuasive since no one wants to follow the person who lacks humility and confidence in their worth.

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7) Ability to listen attentively

Being able to listen attentively is another important trait for leaders because they must learn from what others have to say in order to make the best decisions possible. When you listen attentively, it shows others that you care about what they have to say and respect their opinions enough not to cut them off mid-sentence before they’ve gotten a chance to tell you what they think. It’s also important not just to listen with your ears but with your eyes as well. People will tune out if you’re looking at your phone or checking emails while they’re talking because it makes them feel like they aren’t being heard or valued by others.

8) Ability to encourage others

Encouragement goes a long way in business since some days can be an uphill battle where positive is needed more than ever. The best leaders not only have an optimistic outlook but are also able to communicate it in a way that makes others feel confident about their own abilities.

While encouragement is great, encouragement that demeans or puts other people down for failing isn’t beneficial since that will just breed resentment and further negativity instead of inspiring change.

9) Problem-solving skills

There are many things that can go wrong in business – whether it’s due to simple mistakes made by employees or products with manufacturing defects causing losses while sitting on the shelves. Being able to solve problems quickly may very well be the most important factor in being successful since many issues can escalate if they aren’t immediately addressed. When something goes wrong, everything else comes to a halt since no one wants to take the lead in solving the problem because it’s too risky.

The ability to act quickly and take charge before things get out of hand is what makes someone capable of turning bad situations around – especially when others are paralyzed by fear or indecision.

10) Courageous

Whether you want to admit it or not, there will always be times where business gets competitive and nasty. Being able to stand your ground while maintaining a level head is crucial for leaders who must make tough choices that aren’t popular among everyone else involved.

There will always be people who try to push your buttons with insults, intimidation, name-calling, or other petty tactics meant to throw you off course. Some people won’t care that you’re trying to run a business and will see it as an opportunity to break you down in order to get ahead themselves.

Being able to stand tall when others want to cower is what makes someone capable of leading others since they know what it takes to make the best of the worst situations imaginable.

11) Understanding how work gets done

It’s one thing for someone to have all of the traits mentioned above, but if they don’t know how things get done, their lack of understanding can be detrimental when things fall apart. Even though there are people who still believe that leaders should only focus on setting goals while leaving everything else up to everyone else, that approach has long been outdated because it prevents leaders from getting a chance to experience what really happens in the trenches when issues arise.

The more someone learns about how things get done, the better they will be at making informed decisions that can help prevent problems in the future since they’ll know what to look out for and when something might be going wrong before it actually does.

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12) Work-life balance 

There’s a thin line between leading by example and demanding perfection from others while you make little effort yourself. No one wants a leader who makes grand gestures while everyone else around them struggles with their own workloads or personal problems, which is why a work-life balance must be respected exception. When demands get unreasonable, the person who is being taken advantage of loses their trust in the leader and isn’t afraid to show it.

A good leader understands that everyone has lives outside of work, and finding ways to accommodate that without jeopardizing quality will go a long way towards building morale – which will also help with retention since people won’t feel the need to look elsewhere for more fulfilling careers.

13) Feedback skills

One of the best ways for leaders to be successful is by making sure they understand what works and doesn’t work. This means knowing when someone needs praising or constructive criticism so they can grow into positions where they excel even further.

There’s nothing wrong with looking out for someone’s best interests, but there is a difference between giving someone a chance to prove themselves and giving them nothing but leeway.

The ability to deliver feedback in a pinch is what makes a leader stand out from the rest since it enables them to get the most out of their staff while promoting growth no matter how challenging things might get.

Leaders who don’t have feedback skills will do more harm than good since they won’t be able to create an environment where everyone can thrive, which severely limits development opportunities for high-potential employees.

14) Ability to set & communicate expectations

The best leaders are those who know that people perform better when there’s clarity on what needs to be done instead of being left in the dark about everything that’s expected from them.

Unfortunately, there are still some people who believe that sharing too much information will diminish the chance of success because it makes risk-taking a little more difficult since everyone knows what happens when things go wrong. However, leaders who aren’t willing to share any knowledge of how something works or why something needs to be done usually end up stifling their team and making them feel dissatisfied with their roles even though they were hired because of how talented they supposedly are.

15) Ability to make decisions quickly

Some people don’t try to lead others because they’re afraid that whatever decision they make will be the wrong one – which doesn’t do anyone any good. In fact, this kind of hesitation can actually lead to a company stagnating while the competition leaves them behind because they have a better understanding of what needs to be done in order for everyone around them to get back on track.

There’s nothing wrong with taking time to make sure that every angle has been covered before implementing procedures, but it is an issue if people are forced to wait too long or else their work becomes damaged or lost completely. The best leaders won’t allow this mistake to happen – which shows their team that there’s no reason for them not to share their creative ideas since they’re going to get a fair shot at seeing if it works.

16) Ability to balance between strategy & execution

While some business leaders know that people are an organization’s most valuable asset, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other things to consider in order to ensure the best possible outcome. This means having a handle on everything from marketing and product development to sales so they can adequately prepare for whatever happens next while still keeping their employees’ needs top-of-mind.

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One of the biggest mistakes leaders makes is being so caught up in strategy that they forget about how important it is for everyone else to have a clear idea of what will happen if something goes wrong or when they finally succeed at reaching one or more goals.

A good leader should be able to balance between these two concepts while also proving that their decisions are being made with all stakeholders in mind.

17) Ability to engage & utilize the best resource of any moment

Even though some business people are only concerned with their own work, the leaders who get ahead know that no matter who they are or how skilled they might be at their jobs, without help from everyone else around them, it won’t be possible for things to become more efficient.

This means taking time out of their day to greet new employees and personally congratulate those who have recently completed a major project, which helps their team see that they’re all working towards something big by communicating with each other on a personal level even when everything seems busy.

On the flip side, leaders must also make sure there’s always someone available to help whenever one of their colleagues is stuck on a project, so everyone stays motivated.

Sometimes, even the best resources need to have their knowledge expanded before they can be considered experts – which is why it’s important for leaders to always step in when there are gaps that need filling.

Whether they’re dealing with an expert or someone who just started working for them, good leaders know that anything is possible as long as they work together instead of competing against each other no matter how busy things get. This means quickly moving towards a solution while still talking about what went wrong afterward in order to prevent mistakes from occurring again – which doesn’t help anyone since most people make the same errors more than once without realizing it until it’s too late.

20) Ability to communicate & convey the vision 

Good communication is one of the biggest assets that a leader can have – and it’s also a skill that is in high demand by many different organizations. However, this doesn’t mean that everyone has what it takes to be an inspirational speaker since there are plenty of other factors involved when trying to explain tasks in a way that will lead to success.

For example, some leaders get so focused on conveying their own personal vision that they forget to include any information about how their plans might affect others or how long it will take for results to start showing up. This sometimes means including things like charts and graphs along with detailed plans for everyone else around them, so there aren’t too many questions remaining when the day is done – and it allows them to find out which of their employees might need extra attention in order to keep growing.

Leaders who fail to communicate effectively often only realize how much work they have left to do once everything else has fallen apart, which can be difficult since many people will expect them to fix problems on their own even without any guidance about what went wrong before unless they’re proactive instead of reactive. 

Conclusion

You can develop a magnetic personality by being aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. By understanding yourself, you will be able to manage how others perceive you. With these 20 traits in mind, we hope that business people everywhere work towards developing their personal magnetism so they may have the power to attract more success for themselves.

Author

Founder and chief editor of makemoneyinlife.com Blogger, Affiliate Marketer, Tech and SEO geek. Started this blog in 2011 to help others learn how to work from home, make money online or anything related to business and finances. You can contact me at makemoneyinlife@gmail.com